BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors rested their case against Chad Daybell in his triple-murder trial Thursday, while the judge denied several motions of acquittal by the defense, including one involving an error in one indictment.
Daybell's attorney, John Prior, immediately asked for a "directed verdict" on the murder charges, specifically for Tylee and JJ, saying there had been no indication in evidence that Daybell was involved in the deaths.
Before ruling on the acquittal motions, Boyce brought up an issue he noticed concerning a date range that was not correct in an indictment for the murder of JJ Vallow. In the amended indictment, it states JJ Vallow was killed on September 8-9, when evidence has shown the boy was alive on those days.
Following a lunchtime recess, Boyce denied all the motions for acquittal except for the one related to the JJ Vallow indictment.
After the two sides argued the issue and how to proceed, Boyce ruled that the error was an inadvertent mistake and also denied that particular motion to acquit. The judge also brought up how it was he who noticed the problem, not the defense or prosecution.
Before resting, the defense called retired FBI Agent Doug Harta as final witness, who discussed in detail finding the bodies of the children buried on Daybell's property and many text messages between Daybell and Lori Vallow.
The court has heard weeks of testimony from experts, investigators on the case as well as family and friends of Chad Daybell.
Most recently, on Wednesday, Rexburg Detective Lt. Ray Hermosillo shared recorded and monitored phone calls between Daybell and Lori Vallow while she was in custody in the Madison County Jail.
Hermosillo said Lori spoke to Chad 10-12 times per day while she was in custody, where they talked about Ray, an alias for Lori's brother Alex Cox, and "the project."
Attorney General investigator Nicholas Edwards also took the stand Wednesday, reading a text from Chad to Lori about Chad's wife Tammy, who was alive at the time.
“Hello sweet angel. Big news about Tammy," the text reads. "Please let me know if you’re awake. I love you. The short version is she’s been switched. Tammy is in limbo. A level three demonic named Viola is in her body and was done by Tammy’s sister Sam.”
Earlier this week, Dr. Lilly Mardsen, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner in Utah, took to the witness stand to talk about Tammy Daybell's autopsy.
Mardsen testified that the death was a homicide by asphyxia and that bruises on Tammy's arms were consistent with someone being restrained.
On Monday, gruesome testimony and graphic photos were shown to jurors about tools found on Chad Daybell's property that tested positive for human remains. An FBI tools analyst testified of various tools used to chop and stab Tylee Ryan's remains and what was found on the property, including Ryan's hip bone and spine.
The defense emphasized that the analyst could not specify which tools were used on Tylee.
